well i can officially say i have been a virgin to the wonderful world of riding Ducati... until TODAY!! A buddy is looking at getting the monster but doesnt have his liscence so he asked me to test ride the one he was looking at. Well, first things first, the bike is beautiful, little bit different from the other mosters thanks to some new styling. and here is the second thing i have to say about it... IT SUCKED!! no joke, the bike was excellent looking but besides that, i wouldnt pay a third of the price they were asking for it($9500), seat is very uncformtable and the riding position has your nuts laying on the tank. Your balls become the new shock absorber. the power also wasnt there at all. It didnt smooth out untill about 6xrpm, it felt like it wanted to die up until then, the redline on it is also only like 8500 or something, for a bike that is meant to be street ridden and agressive with that torquey V-twin, it sure wasnt. My other buddy also rode after me because he didnt believe me. He said the exact same thing ive said.... anyway... point of the story is that my other buddy wanted to ride my SV650s as a measuring stick to compare it with afterwards, and he said even if money were not an issue he wouldstill take the SV over the 09 monster anyday. Let your teeth show fellas, cuz i know im still smiling

same here, was trying to decide between my SV and a monster. Test rode both, and was like, "are you telling me people actually buy the ducati over the SV!?!" and of course, here I am, and loving every minute of it. Thinking about getting a 1098 as my next bike, but haven't decided between twin or I-4 yet. especially because I'm keeping the SV. But in a nutshell, yeah, monsters suck.

I shopped these up at the Ducati dealer at Destination Daytona. I liked the looks and quality bits so I decided to do some research. Over on the Monster forums I learned that they tend to overheat in a big way ( don't come with an oil cooler) and the only way to fix it was to buy an aftermarket pipe and chip. Once I figured up what it's value would compare to the SV, I didn't go back. I really wanted to like it but They are not for everyone, I guess, and I am convinced that the SV is far more reliable and offers substantially more value than the ducati.

Everything I've read about these Monsters raised red flags in my mind ... and the hot running is a huge problem!

I don't think they put out anywhere near 80 hp ... the two I rode (and one was all tricked out with pipes etc) felt more like 50 hp. I too tried to like them, but the more I rode, the more the warts got to me ... also couldn't get past the idea of the Italian Marelli electrics.

Nice looking bikes, and they feel nice to sit on, but I don't think the value is there compared to an SV.

same here, was trying to decide between my SV and a monster. Test rode both, and was like, "are you telling me people actually buy the ducati over the SV!?!" and of course, here I am, and loving every minute of it. Thinking about getting a 1098 as my next bike, but haven't decided between twin or I-4 yet. especially because I'm keeping the SV. But in a nutshell, yeah, monsters suck.

so you want to jump from a 650 to a 1098? Why not 848, heard the wet clutch is superior